Black Lives Matter Co-Founder: “Police Need to Be Held Accountable”

President of Black Lives Matter New Haven Lia Miller-Granger is a nonstop machine.

She recently lead the peaceful demonstration in New Haven, Connecticut where she spoke to the crowd about police brutality and the recent acts of violent.

“We’re tired, we’re angry, we’re really sad. Police need to be held accountable. When they kill us, they are not held accountable. They get to home or (placed) on administrative leave, and that is it,” she said

She encouraged the demonstrators not to despair, despite what seems to be slow progress in gun violence legislation made since the shootings.

“We have to occupy these streets. We have to call these civil servants and hold them accountable. This is the beginning. Do not let the fire inside of you dissipate.”

The Beginning

Lia started Black Lives Matter New Haven two years ago, saying she was “pissed off,” and couldn’t just sit on the couch doing nothing.

Since the chapter’s formation, they have started a mentorship program, led rallies, and acting as a platform to to highlight the local acts of police violence.

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“There’s always been this misconception that it’s not that bad in the North. Only because they’re not lynching you in the trees in New Haven,” she told the New Haven Independent.

As for the protest on Friday, it sounded by Lia’s description to be a success.

“Black men were hugging black women. We were all crying. No one made any man who shed a tear feel weak. No one made a woman that shed a tear out there feel weak. You heard men talking about and bigging up their mothers who are in the struggle. When we were on the Green down there, it was just so much black power”

Lena Finkel is the Editor and Founder of Femestella. Prior to started Femestella, she worked at People, InStyle, and Tiger Beat. She’s currently obsessed with Vanderpump Rules, lipstick, and her kitty Tom.